Founder’s Day Lecture

Growth of Biotechnology in

By

Govindarajan Padmanaban Department of Biochemistry Indian Institute of Science Bengaluru - 560012

August 10, 2010, 1130Hrs

Indian Institute of Astrophysics Bengaluru

Professor Padmanaban Govindarajan

Professor Padmanaban Govindarajan was born on 20 March 1938 in , India. He is a renowned biochemist and a pioneer in Indian biotechnology. Currently, he holds the NASI-Platinum Jubilee Chair/Honorary Professor at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru.

He completed his BSc from Presidency College, Madras University in 1958, MSc from IARI New Delhi in 1960 and Ph.D from IISc in 1966. He worked as Assistant Professor (1969-75), Associate Professor (1975- 80) and as Professor (1980 onwards) at IISc, Bangalore. He was Director of the Indian Institute of Science during 1994-98. He served as Honorary Professor/Emeritus Scientist (1998-2005) and Distinguished Biotechnologist (DBT) during 2003 to 2007. He worked as UGC/British Council young scientist at St. Mary's Hospital Medical School, London, U.K. (1969-70), Senior Fulbright Scholar, University of Chicago (1973-74) and Visiting Scientist/Professor, University of Chicago for a decade (1975-86).

Professor Padmanaban is credited with ushering in the recombinant DNA technology in the country in the late 1970s. He used cloning and DNA sequencing techniques to identify the promoter regions controlling the expression of drug metabolizing genes such as cytochrome-P450 in liver. He has spent a life time working with the heme biosynthetic pathway and its importance in cellular regulation. In the last 25 years, he has devoted his attention to the study of the malarial parasite biology with a view to identify new drug targets. This has become very essential, since there is no vaccine against malaria and the parasite has become resistant to many front-line antimalarials. His group discovered the heme-biosynthetic pathway in the malarial parasite and he has been involved in cloning and expressing all the genes of the pathway, which has helped in establishing the uniqueness of the parasite enzymes to become new drug targets. An exciting discovery has been the demonstration of antimalarial activity for curcumin from turmeric . A combination therapy with curcumin and arteether has given excellent results in the mouse model and on that basis a human clinical trial is under way. He has played a crucial supportive role in the development of recombinant hepatitis B vaccine and DNA vaccine against rabies by his colleague in the laboratory. Professor Padmanaban has guided 45 Ph.Ds and has published over 140 papers. He has mentored a large number of young scientists and entrepreneurs in the country.

Professor Padmanaban is the recipient of many prestigious honors and awards. Notable ones are: Sarma Memorial Award (SBC); Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Award (CSIR); Bhasin Award in Biotechnology; Ranbaxy Award; B.R. Ambedkar (ICMR) and DSc (h.c.) from Banaras Hindu University. He is a recipient of Golden Jubilee Senior Biotechnology Fellowship award of DBT 1997; UNESCO Chair in Biotechnology (2000), Distinguished Biotechnology Award (2003), G.M. Modi Award (2005). Genome Valley Award (2007), NASI-Platinum Jubilee Chair (December 2007) and the Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Award instituted by the Indian Science Congress (2008). Recognisinf Professor Padmanaban’s contributions, the honoured him with the Padma Shri (1991) and (2004) awards.

Professor Padmanaban is a Fellow of all the Science Academies in India, Fellow of the Third World Academy of Sciences and Honorary Professor, JNCASR, Bangalore. He was C.V. Raman Professor (INSA) during 1991-96.

He has delivered invited lectures at several national and international conferences relating to cytochrome P-450 proteins, transcription, malarial parasite, Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine. As Director, IISc, he promoted interaction with industry and started innovative programmes to attract students to research. He is personally involved in helping and motivating entrepreneurs to set up biotech industries, especially in modern vaccine manufacture.

Professor Padmanaban is keenly interested in Indian philosophy and carnatic music.

Growth of Biotechnology in India

It all started with the establishment of the National Biotechnology Board by the Government of India in 1982 in the Department of Science and Technology. This got upgraded to the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) in 1986. The rate of growth can be assessed by the fact that the budget has increased by 50 fold over the last 25 years. The growth has been in terms of the establishment of new institutions, support for research, creation of infrastructure, generation of human resource, formulation of regulatory regimes and linkage with industries. DBT can claim credit for a significant growth in modern life science research. In terms of products, results have started coming in the new millennium in terms of diagnostics, vaccines and biopharmaceuticals. Most of the products are still generics, but innovative products are in the pipeline. Biotech application to agriculture has lagged behind, although leads in the transgenic area have been obtained. These are still remaining in glass houses for a variety of reasons. Bt cotton is the only product in the field. New directions include creation of Stem Cell Research and Application Centres, Centres for Translational Research, tie ups with institutions abroad for Biodesign etc. Industry has also started moving in and partnerships with academia is increasing. Apart from Health and Agriculture, there are also initiatives in the areas of bioenergy, bioprocesses for treatment of recalcitrant fluids, tissue culture, monoclonal antibodies etc. fast becoming a popular destination for clinical trials and CROs are in business. Venture capital for start-ups is still an issue. DBT has initiated Small Business Innovative Research Initiative scheme (SBIRI) to address this issue and CSIR started New Millenium Initiative programme (NIMITLI) to support high end projects. DST has support mechanisms through the Technology Development Board (TDB) initiative. India has the potential to reach global leadership in the areas of vaccines, biogenerics, traditional medicine (if properly validated and standardized) and service sector, including contract projects. The turnover is estimated at 2.5 billion dollars at present and the aim is to reach 15 billion dollars by 2015. We still need to go a long way and the aim has to be not only to progress along with reverse engineering but also move into innovation.

Founder’s Day

In 1971, the Government of India accorded autonomous research institute status to the Kodaikanal Observatory leading to the birth of IIA. Dr M K Vainu Bappu, Director of the Observatory at that time, was the moving force behind the creation of the Institute. IIA’s aim has been to promote, guide and conduct research in all branches of astrophysics; to establish and maintain astronomical observatories in the country; to co-operate and collaborate with other national and international organizations in the field of astrophysics and related areas; to train personnel and motivate them to take up research in astrophysics; and to disseminate knowledge and information concerning astrophysics as widely as possible. Over the past thirty eight years, IIA has pursued these aims with considerable success. Today the activities of IIA involve astronomical studies covering almost all regions of the electromagnetic spectrum: from gamma-rays to low frequency radio waves.

Vainu Bappu was responsible for the revival of optical astronomy in independent India. After a brilliant academic career at Nizam College, Hyderabad, followed by a doctoral degree at Harvard University, Vainu Bappu worked at the Mount Wilson and Palomar Observatories in California as a Carnegie Fellow. He returned to India in 1954 and came to Kodaikanal in 1960 after a five-year stint as the Chief Astronomer of the Uttar Pradesh State Observatory, Nainital. He had achieved international recognition with the publication in 1957, of the seminal paper, co-authored with Olin C Wilson of Caltech, on the relationship between the Ca II K emission-line width and the luminosity in late-type stars, known today as the Wilson-Bappu Effect. Bappu initiated efforts towards establishing a modern optical observatory for night time astronomy in peninsular India. The field station in Kavalur was established in 1968 and through Bappu’s efforts it flourished into a full-fledged optical astronomy observatory within a decade. The main instrument in Kavalur, an indigenously built 2.34m optical telescope, was planned by him, though he did not live to see the completion of his dream project as he succumbed to a heart condition in August 1982. After it was completed, the telescope and the observatory in Kavalur were named after Professor Bappu by the late Shri Rajiv Gandhi, then .

Bappu had a great love of nature and built the campuses in Kavalur and Bangalore with meticulous care, planting trees including some rare ones, laying rose gardens, and ensuring that the scientists worked in an environment where the bounties of nature are manifest in their myriad colours.

Vainu Bappu inspired a whole generation of optical astronomers in the country and this tradition continues with the Institute training young and bright students to pursue a fruitful career in astronomy and astrophysics. A whole generation of astrophysicists were trained at the Institute and are pursuing their careers successfully in India and abroad. This generation is expected to carry forward Bappu’s legacy by taking fresh initiatives in building larger telescopes and innovative instruments to keep India at the forefront of astronomical research.

The Founder’s Day is an occasion when we all come together and pause for a while to take stock of our progress, to reassure ourselves that we are following the path charted out by the founder and make a fresh pledge to dedicate ourselves to the tasks ahead.

Founder’s Day Lectures

2007 Prof. P. Balaram : Measuring and Assessing Science

2008 Prof. C.N.R. Rao : Doing Science in India : Personal Reflections

2009 Prof. : Experimental Astronomy in India : Some Lessons